Pyramid scheme plays on 'Britishness' to ensnare China investors

Shanghai

AS David Byrne ate breakfast at the Tongli Lakeview Hotel outside Shanghai one Sunday in April, an angry customer was waiting for him.

Mr Byrne, 52, is a British businessman who sells investment products. The previous day, he had introduced himself to a roomful of potential customers in the hotel as the new London head of a foreign currency trading platform whose website offered very high returns.